With his latest film coming out, Rock the Kasbah, sees Bill Murray play the manager of rock star Zooey Deschanel as they both travel to Afghanistan for a gig. The film follows Murray as he loses his star in the middle of Afghanistan. Murray then finds another singer he sees potential in, and attempts to get her to Kabul in order to sing in a competition. In celebration of the great funny man, we take a look back at his incredible career so far, spanning five decades and over 60 feature length films, not to mention a four year run on Saturday Night Live.

William James Murray was born in Wilmette, Illinois in 1950 to Lucille Collins and Edward Joseph Murray II. Bill got his first shot at acting in a short film back in 1973 in The Hat Act, playing a bookstore owner, but it only took two years for Murray to receive his big break on comedy sketch show Saturday Night live, along with soon to be collaborator Dan Akroyd. His first major feature film was 1979’s Meatballs, where he played Tripper, a film about counsellors and campers at a summer camp. Over the next three years, Murray starred in multiple comedies, including the two cult classics Caddyshack and Stripes.

With Marvel Studios running rampant in the box office with every film released being a sure-fire hit, it seems that comic book movies are hot property at the moment, a far cry from how Hollywood thought of them a couple of decades ago. DC Comics are responsible for some of the most classic comic book characters in history. With superheroes such as Batman, Superman, The Flash, Aquaman and Green Lantern in DC’s vast back catalogue, the film crossover possibilities are endless. With the Suicide Squad film now in production, the future looks bright for DC as they attempt to overthrow Marvel as film’s biggest comic book studio.

Marvel Studios has been churning out box office smashing films for a while now, starting with Blade back in 1998. Starring Wesley Snipes as the vampire hunter, the film was a huge success and showed that comic book films can be a success without the need for a well known character. X-Men was the next film to be released from Marvel, starring Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and directed by Bryan Singer. The film made almost $300,000,000 worldwide and subsequently paved the way for sequels and the eventual prequel origin stories.

With the release and success of Iron Man in 2008, Marvel Studios decided on linking all further films within the same universe, resulting in the phenomenally successful Avengers in 2012, which combined a number of main characters all teaming up in one film. Captain America (2011) and Thor (2011) were both films released to set up the story for The Avengers, joining Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) as a team of superheroes bought together by Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson).

With Marvel Studios running away with such success, DC Comics have now entered the game with their own connecting film universe, with an equally impressive roll call of superheroes. Man of Steel (2013) is the first film in the shared universe, directed by Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen, Dawn of the Dead) and starring Henry Cavill as Superman, a reboot of the Superman films. Cavill will reprise his role as the man of steel in the second shared universe film, Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, with the introduction of Ben Affleck taking up the role of Batman after Christian Bale’s hugely successful Dark Knight trilogy from Christopher Nolan. There are plans for 11 more films to fit in with the shared universe, including a stand alone film starring Affleck’s Batman.

The films to be released for the DC shared universe by Warner Bros. scheduled for release over the next five years include Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Justice League and part two in 2019, The Flash, Aquaman, Shazam, Cyborg and a reboot of the critically panned Green Lantern will all follow. In addition, a sequel to Man of Steel is also in the pipeline. The shared universe idea started back in 1998 when Kevin Smith and Tim Burton were to team up and reboot Superman with Nicolas Cage as the Man of Steel. Michael Keaton was also set to reprise his role of Batman from Burton’s earlier Batman films but the project was cancelled before production began.

With Suicide Squad being the first major film to incorporate multiple characters from the DC shared universe, it was announced that David Ayer (Fury and The Fast and the Furious) will both direct and write. An all-star cast was revealed with Will Smith leading as Deadshot, Jared Leto as the Joker, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Jesse Eisenberg rumoured to be playing Lex Luthor. The film follows the anti-hero organisation that first appeared in DC Comics back in 1959, where a secret government organisation recruits dangerous criminals and super villains in order to carry out black ops missions in exchange for reduced sentences. Jared Leto released a picture of himself in the Joker makeup, following on from Jack Nicholson’s 1989 iteration and Heath Ledger’s Oscar winning portrayal in 2008’s The Dark Knight.

The Suicide Squad seems to be DC’s answer to the hugely successful Avengers series, but only time will tell if DC can stand toe to toe against the might of Marvel in the world of cinema. But with two of the most iconic superheroes of all time in Superman and Batman in their corner, the next five years looks promising for DC Comics.

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Stephen King’s The Dark Tower film has been floating around development hell for quite some time, but it seems there might actually be light at the end of the tunnel. It has been announced that Sony and MRC are teaming up to bring the much loved fantasy series to not just film, but television as well. The plans include bringing the books to the silver screen in a film series as well as a complimentary TV show to accompany the movies.

The Dark Tower series is a series of book by famous horror writer Stephen King, the book blends multiple genres in what King himself describes as his finest work. It combines fantasy, science fiction, horror and Western in a series that follows a ‘gunslinger’ on his quest towards a tower. The series comprises of eight novels focussing on the protagonist Roland Deschain, a character King has revealed to be majorly influenced by Clint Eastwood’s “Man With No Name” from Sergio Leone’s acclaimed Western ‘Dollar’ trilogy. Other inspirations for the series have come from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings’ vast fictional world, as well as Arthurian legend.

Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Erica Huggins and Akiva Goldsman are set to produce, who have collectively tried to get the project up and running for almost 10 years. The first film will be based on the very first novel, The Gunslinger, which was written back in 1982. Akiva Goldsman has been joined by Jeff Pinkner to co-write the script, and will be a completely different version to what has previously been written. Now all that is left is for a director to be bought onboard and production can begin.

The Dark Tower adaptations have been in the works for quite some time, but due to the sheer scope and size of the world in which the Gunslinger exists, potential budgets have been far too big for studios to take a risk on. Even though the books themselves have received critical acclaim, studios are reluctant in taking on a project of this scale without assurances that it will succeed. The project went through two major studios before landing with MRC and Sony. Universal Studios picked up the property back in 2007 and initially announced JJ Abrams was connected to direct a trilogy but soon removed himself from the project. Universal eventually pulled the plug after budget issues and a contract breakdown with director Ron Howard. Dark Tower then jumped ship over to Warner Bros. but again due to financial concerns, they also passed.

Stephen King himself is excited that his series has finally been given the greenlight as he recently stated that having Akiva Goldsman Jeff Pinkner onboard to write the adaptations is a brilliant and creative approach to his books. The Dark Tower will be the latest Stephen King novel to receive the silver screen treatment, which comes after countless critically acclaimed and successful film versions of his books have been released over the years. Such films include The Shawshank Redemption, It, The Green Mile, The Shining, Stand By Me and Carrie have all been hugely successful.

The Dark Tower has no release date for now, but after a decade of sitting in development hell, there finally seems to be some hope for the Gunslinger to make his way to television and the big screen.

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Terrance Malick’s latest feature film after 2012’s To the Wonder, Knight of Cups stars Christian Bale as a troubled screenwriter living in Los Angeles trying to find purpose in his life. To feature alongside the man behind Batman is an all-star cast including Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Antonio Banderas, Ben Kingsley and Nick Offerman. Premiering at this year’s Berlin film festival, Knight of Cups is set for a December 2015 release. The film follows Christian Bale as Rick, a burnt-out screenwriter living in Los Angeles who has become disillusioned with Hollywood and longs for an escape from the world he finds trapped in.

As a commentary of the celebrity lifestyle that dominates modern culture, Malick portrays the empty hedonistic lifestyle through Rick and the aimless wanderings through life he has found himself in. The film plays like a dream with the audience acting as the passenger as Rick tries to escape and find meaning beyond pool parties, fast cars and money. Rick is addicted to the success he has found in Hollywood but yearns a change from the emptiness his life brings him. Shot in the summer of 2012, Malick completed shooting without an actual completed story. Having spent more than over two years in post-production, Knight of Cups is finally seeing the light of day at Berlin film festival before a wider release at the end of the year.

Acclaimed cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki is once again teaming up with Terrence Malick in what will be their fourth collaboration after The New World (2005), The Tree of Life (2011) and To The Wonder (2012). Lubezki, who has two Academy Awards to his name already, one for Gravity in 2012 and then again in this year’s Oscars for Birdman. Both of which were awarded for Best Achievement in Cinematography.

The title of the film refers to the tarot card of the same name, the Knight of Cups is described as a restless, romantic, adventurous and artistic. Christian Bale’s character Rick fits the mould perfectly. Each character Rick encounters during the film lend themselves to different tarot cards, all representing Rick’s experiences with these minor characters. When Knight of Cups premiered at Berlin film festival, it was met with mixed reviews, ranging from those feeling the film is as empty as the protagonist’s life, to one of wonder and an engaging foray into the chaotic world of Hollywood. But there is no denying that this film has all the classic markings of Malick; incredible visuals and experimental narratives.

Marvel’s greatest movie block buster in ten years has sealed the company’s place in history as the most profitable movie studio in America and probably the entire world forever! With Joss Whedon once again taking the helm in directing the darker and grittier sequel to the 2012 hit, Avengers; Avengers: Age of Ultron pits the team of Earth’s mightiest heroes against the alien A.I. sentient, Ultron – and thousands of his copies. It’s all about Marvel’s elaborate and ambitious plan for its Phase 2 movies and they have indeed played their cards well, because Marvel has not slipped yet in making movies since 2008.

The Genre’

In the 1980s and 1990s the superhero genre’ didn’t do well due to technology constraints and very few writers, movie directors and movie studios would want to spend over $40 million just to make a Spider-Man movie. DC Comics’ Batman; however, was sold out due to a large fan base but after Joel Schumacher’s redundant and offensive take on the franchise, Warner Bros. shut down any future projects for the cape crusader. It wasn’t until they saw how Marvel sow the seeds that would make the superhero genre’ profitable again did they hire Christopher Nolan to reboot the Batman movies. The Avengers being one of the most popular ensemble in the Marvel Universe was welcomed with arms wide open by fans and regular movie goers worldwide.

The Storyline

Avengers: Age of Ultron was taken from the comic book series “Ultron Imperative,” but retold differently with the creative vision of Joss Whedon, who is popular among geeks to say the least. Ultron’s hate for mankind arises from the fact that humans are irrational. They have the same biophysical structure, they share a common ancestor, whether knowingly or unknowingly they understand that they need each other to survive and yet they fight endlessly to the point of the threat of extinction with their weapons of mass destruction! Ultron sought to end mankind’s age old conflicts by doing away with pesky governments and organizations like the Avengers, Hydra and others that constantly intervene half way through the problem but never resolves it.

Of course the Avengers couldn’t let him have his way no matter how politically correct he is, plus mass murder is a huge moral issue that robots – no matter how smart they are – are unable to comprehend. Much like in the comics, Ultron fashioned himself a vibranium alloy body which is the same metal that Captain America’s shield is made of. It’s practically indestructible! But a combined energy blast from Thor, Iron – Man and Vision seemingly melted it. Wait, what??? Isn’t it supposed to be, you know, un-destroyable? If Hulk pounded on Ultron, then that would be a more believable scenario, it’s not right, vibranium should be able to withstand the surface temperature of the Sun. Even Human Torch’s supernova blast couldn’t damage Cap’s shield, so why did it worked on Ultron? Plot holes! Plot Holes!

But we can just sweep that under the rug, the important thing is that the Avengers delivered what we all wanted to see…destruction, kicking @$$, awesome CGI effects, funny moments in the film and teaser end credits scenes! It will leave you craving for more Marvel movies even if you haven’t finished digesting the one currently playing in theaters.

The narrative, dialogue, special effects and action sequences made Avengers: Age of Ultron an epic live-action adaptation of the comic books! You will love the film from start to finish and even during the end credits scene of course. So much has improved since the first movie and it’s not just them being comfortable with each other, trusting one another but also the other aspects of the story such as the Avengers Tower, new team members being welcomed, new plot twists, new villains or possible villains in other Marvel movies tie-in and more. It is quite cool and impressive!

The Quinjet is just as we all expected it to be and the best part is when the fuel enraged Hulk battles with Iron – Man’s Hulk Buster armor! Personally, I think nothing could top that, although I believe Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim fight scenes echoes it. The final battle in Sokovia is twice as exciting as the battle in New York with the Chitauris and overall I’d give this film a 9.4 rating out of 10 on my most favorite movies of all time. Yes, because it deserves it!

Production

The film was shot in multiple locations across the globe which includes South Africa, South Korea, London, Bangladesh and Italy. Naturally, not counting the cost of CGI special effects, costumes, movie set props and others, it will already cost a lot; and that’s why Marvel guaranteed Whedon $279.9 million for production budget. Avengers: Age of Ultron has surpassed Avatar and Titanic in production cost and it could well be the most expensive movie ever made; however, the hype and positive reviews for the movie overshadowed this. Go back a decade and this kind of budget would have raised a lot of eyebrows, but not anymore as it’s becoming more and more of a trend. Who knows? The third sequel called Avengers Infinity War 1 & 2 might cost even more!

Promotion

Six months before the film was set to be released, Marvel teased their trailers in cinemas, TV, print media and the web; so this movie was promoted very well for a target audience. It has already doubled its budget in box office returns amounting to $695.1 million and rising; and it still has a week or two more in cinemas worldwide, so it may reel in more money for the studio. Recently, Fast & Furious 7 made over $1 billion in box office sales, so Avengers: Age of Ultron is expected to do the same or gross even more. Furious 7 success is much credited to Paul Walker’s death as it got the sympathy vote of most people – including me. But that’s just my opinion…even so; no one can argue that the movie was super cool to watch!

Acceptance

The movie opened to more than 4,000 theaters on April 22, 2015 and millions lined up to see the most anticipated movie sequel in recent memory! It garnered a lot of praise from film critics and fans alike and before it even played in theaters people are already clamoring for the third and fourth installment. Marvel’s 60+ years of entertainment both in print media, digital media and now the movies has created a large fan base globally. This proves that consistent publication of great stories – even in comic books – will essentially create a cult. The importance of which is more than just making millions or billions of dollars, but giving people a chance to experience something magical…something beyond our, sometimes, boring reality.

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It isn’t often that a film reboot is actually made by the same writer and director, but Australian born filmmaker George Miller decided it was time to go back to the film series that put Mel Gibson on the map. The first Mad Max came out in 1979, in a not too distant apocalyptic future where society is on the brink of complete collapse. Gibson plays the role of police officer Max, who loses his best friend, wife and son to a murderous gang of criminals, in his journey of vengeance and inevitable insanity as a man with nothing to lose. Miller went on to write and direct a further two films in the Mad Max universe; The Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome (1981 and 1985 respectively). But it has taken almost 30 years for another film in the series.

Back in 1998, George Miller was crossing the road in Los Angeles when he had an idea for a fourth film set in the Australian outback. By the time he reached the other side of the road, he thought to abandon the idea. At this point, Miller had said all he had to say about a post-apocalyptic world where the last remaining humans fought over gasoline. But a year later the idea grew, and instead of fuel, this time the gangs fought over control of human beings. Just as things started to come together, shooting was scheduled to take place in 2001 but 9/11 happened, the resulting collapse of the American dollar to the Australian dollar led to incredible hikes in production costs, to the point where it was no longer a viable project. With Mad Max on the back burner, Miller turned his attention to Happy Feet instead, a little more family friendly film.

With Mad Max Fury Road hitting the cinemas, a title has never been more fitting to how difficult the road has been to get this film made. Having taken over 17 years before production even began, there were plenty more obstacles for Miller to navigate. When the fourth Mad Max was ready to move into production, problems developed in Mel Gibson’s personal life; arrested for drink driving, altercation with a police officer, as well as anti-Semitic rants, Max went a little too Mad. Miller then turned his attention to a new lead, as his vision of Mad Max was still young, so Heath Ledger was considered before his untimely death in 2008.

The lead role eventually went to Tom Hardy, the English actor who first graced the big screen in 2001’s Black Hawk Down, before starring in a string of hugely successful roles such as Bronson (2008), Inception (2010) and then as Batman’s nemesis Bane in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises in 2012. With everything in place to start filming in 2010, Miller wanted to return to his native Australian outback but found that the once arid, desolate desert was now a lush and fertile land due to the first flood in years. Switching location to the Namibia desert in Africa, a 1200 mile stretch of barren land which is mostly uninhabited, proved to be a challenging task for the 1700 strong cast and crew. Five months later and the film was finally wrapped, and being the traditional action film director he is, George Miller insisted on using very little CGI and green screen, instead opting for practical stunts in a hostile Namibian desert.

After a 30 year hiatus from the Mad Max universe, and having taken a slight family-friendly detour on the way on projects Babe: Pig in the City and Happy Feet, George Miller is finally ready to return to the gritty, violent post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max. This time with Tom Hardy as Max and Charlize Theron as truck driver Furiosa in an attempt to save human slaves captured by gang leader Immorten Joe played by Hugh Keays-Byrne.